SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican softball announced the promotion of Bob Perales to interim head coach of the Dominican softball program Monday after serving four seasons as an assistant coach.
 
"We are excited to have Bob stick around with us after helping Coach Jules (Santos) establish a winning culture at softball," athletic director Amy Henkelman said. "Coach Bob brings extensive experience to our program and stability as we will continue to build on the foundation he helped lay. I know he will continue to lead the Penguins to success on the field and in the classroom."
 
He joined the Penguins in August 2022, bringing more than three decades of experience in coaching, player development, recruiting, operations and organizational leadership across the collegiate, high school and club levels. During Perales' four seasons as an assistant, Dominican won 98 games and recorded 70 PacWest victories. He helped guide the Penguins to back-to-back winning seasons in 2025 and 2026, including a historic 2025 campaign that produced program records of 32 overall wins and 23 conference victories. Dominican also made its first appearance at the PacWest Championships during the 2025 season.
 
"I'm honored to accept the head coach role and want to thank Amy Henkelman, Spencer Shamo and Phil Billeci-Gard for trusting me with the program," Perales said. "I've enjoyed being a part of Dominican University for the last four years and I'm excited to take on this next chapter as head coach.  The future is bright and I'm looking forward to building a successful program in and out of the classroom!"
 
The Penguins established several additional NCAA Division II-era records during Perales' tenure. Dominican set single-season marks with 226 pitching strikeouts in 2023 before the 2025 team established records with 23 home runs, 194 RBIs, 525 total bases, 10 shutouts and a 2.58 team ERA. The Penguins added program records with six saves and 61 sacrifice hits in 2026.
 
Perales helped coach Taylor Rodriguez, who earned PacWest Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-PacWest honors in 2025 after setting Dominican's single-season records with 18 wins and a 1.56 ERA while also amassing six home runs and 28 RBI. Rodriguez later completed her career as the program's all-time leader with seven saves. Perales also helped coach Tiare Guerrero, who was named the 2025 PacWest Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Dominican produced nine All-PacWest selections during Perales' four seasons on staff, including a program-record five honorees in 2025. The Penguins also received 81 Academic All-PacWest citations during that span.
 
Before joining Dominican, Perales served as the director of operations for the San Jose State softball program from 2018-20 and as an interim assistant coach in 2018 and 2020. He provided instruction to infielders and outfielders while also assisting with hitting development.
 
Perales has served as the organizational director and head coach of the San Jose Sting club softball program since 1999. In that role, he has overseen player development, recruiting education, staffing, budgets, travel, equipment procurement and relationships with college coaches throughout the country. The Sting won a USA/ASA national championship in 2010 and earned several top-10 finishes at PGF, USA/ASA and Triple Crown national championship events. Four athletes coached by Perales advanced to the USA National Team.
 
Perales earned a bachelor's degree in industrial technology with a concentration in training from Cal Poly in 1990. He attended the university on a baseball scholarship and competed as a utility player from 1985-88.